Rise Above Insanity
by Moonlight Swishers
Summary: "Add...you have a chance to start over. To build a new future for yourself." After failing yet again to save his family, Add delves into depression. But he has the Elgang to back him up. Watch as Add struggles to deal with his failure, and builds new bonds in the process. A different take on Diabolic Esper. Rating subject to change.


"N-No...Mother!"

Add screamed out for the woman he had been trying to save time and time again as he stood at the edge of a portal in the time-space continuum. One that he created that would lead them back to the current time Add was in before he traveled through time. His mother was standing right in front of him as she looked at him with a saddened smile on her face.

Add had yet again been traveling through time and space for what must have been the millionth time and and ended up in yet another alternate timeline. But alas, he could never get back to the exact timeline he was originally from, and he knew that.

But still, he searched, and searched, until he got to this point, where he just up and said,

"_Screw it! If I can't get back to my exact past, I'll bring my family back with me, regardless of which timeline they're from!"_

"Mother, come on! I can take you back to the present! We can finally live in peace again! Isn't that what you want?!"

His mother stood still, flashing her sad smile at him, before turning around to look at her surroundings. The current setting they were in was being ripped apart because of Add's tampering with the timeline due to his miscalculations in his Dynamo's World Discrepancy system.

"It's too late, Add...this timeline is falling apart...and if I come with you, it'll only disrupt the flow of time even more. You don't want that."

"To hell with the flow of time! I don't care about that,as long as I'm with you!" Add yelled out as his eyes started to tear up. A rare occurrence for him, indeed.

"Don't cry, Add. You're stronger than that. You'll be fine. This is for the best. I know your father would be proud of you...For you to go to all this trouble to save us. I'm glad I got to see you again."

"Damn it, mother! I don't want your farewells!"

Add's mother quickly leaned in and hugged him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder.

"Add...you have a chance to start over. To build a new future for yourself. I beg of you...don't dwell on the past for the rest of your life. But instead, enjoy the time you've got left. It's not something you'll have forever..."

There was more she wanted to say, but seeing that the timeline they were in was inching closer and closer as the entire area continued to destroy itself, she quickly let go of him and pushed him into the portal he created and watched as he fell through it.

She looked at him one last time before smiling a smile of joy and waving goodbye.

"I love you, son..."

Add gasped as he looked up at her for the last time before the current of date flowing from the timeline engulfed his mother and the portal he had created closed itself shut.

Add couldn't hold in it anymore. He screamed at the very top of his lungs in sadness and agony as he continued to float through the time-space continuum. Soon, he would end up back in the present time. But he didn't care where he ended up.

If he couldn't save her, what was the point?

He was falling. Falling fast. Falling head first. His eyes closed as he just let himself fall. The rip in time and space he had created had reopened itself and spewed him out in mid-air. He opened his eyes and looked down at the area below him. He was back in present-day Elrios. Velder to be exact. Right outside of the laboratory he had built there.

He then looked around a bit more and saw the Elgang, who were looking up at him with their eyes widened as they watched him slowly plummeting down. He closed his eyes again, a few stray tears falling from his face.

He just remained motionless as he continued to fall, various thoughts running through his head. How he had failed time and time again to save his past. What his life would've been like if all of this never happened in the first place.

"_What...What do I do now?"_

He had told the Elgang right before he left that he might not make it back, but just in case that he did, to keep watch of the skies.

He knew he was falling, and that he would soon be falling to his death if he didn't find a way to cushion his fall. But he didn't care at this point. What was the point in living?

As he continued to think, two things caused to him to reconsider his way of thinking.

The final words his mother had spoken to him before she pushed him back into the portal.

He had spent so much time working, fighting, researching. So many stressful days. So many sleepless nights, even to the point where he wouldn't even eat. A big part of why he was so skinny as of now.

Could he really create a new future after spending almost his entire life trying to recreate his past?

The second thing, was the collective yells of the group below him, telling him to snap out of it.

The one that stood out the most to him, despite being the lowest tone in voice, was _hers. _

Eve spoke in a low whisper, his name.

"Add..."

At that moment, his eyes widened open, and with quickness, he willed his Dynamos to life and ordered them to cushion his fall.

His Dynamos did just that and quickly hovered under his back and lifted him so that he was now falling back first

But forward he could hit the ground, he floated in mid-air just above the ground, due to his Dynamos floating just below him to keep him suspended in the air.

Add then stood up to his feet, but the shock from falling through he air at such a rapid speed caused him to wobble a bit. Before he could wobble forward enough to fall flat on his back, the others members of the group quickly rushed to his side to keep him from falling.

He opened his eyes, and looked around at them. The people who were nice enough to welcome him into their family, when he had no other.

"Thank goodness you're okay." said Rena.

"Yeah, dude. You had us worried there for a sec!" Elsword said with a cheeky grin, as he flashed a thumbs-up to Add.

"You should be more careful next time Add." Raven said in a low voice.

"Yeah, otherwise, we'd never forgive you if you died!" Aisha said, as she flicked her tongue out at him childishly.

"Good to have you back!" Chung, Ara, and Elesis all exclaimed at the same time.

Almost immediately, Eve walked up in front of him. Add stared down at her as he looked up to him. The two stood in silence before Eve spoke to him.

"Welcome back."

Add looked at her silently before smiling slightly. The first time he had smiled in years that hadn't been a psychotic chelsea grin.

"Good to be back."

_Maybe...maybe there is a chance for me to carve a new future..._

**A/N. Well, that was a thing. This is something I came up with in a couple of hours, and I plan to make more chapters instead of keeping this as a one-shot as I originally planned.**

**I'm really on the fence about Diabolic Esper's backstory, and I just want to see what would happen if Add hadn't gone crazy, and instead accepted his fate and went on the path of good. So that's where I plan to go on with this story as I continue to expand on it. **

**No word on an Add/Eve pairing yet, so don't get your hopes up yet, shippers. I might and might not decide to ADD(bad pun, I know) that into the story, based on how I feel if it should be in there or not as I continue to write. **

**But for now, I'll end it here. If you liked this, be sure to review, favorite, and follow for future updates. See ya in Chapter 2!**


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